Occupy Wells Fargo! - The "Santa Rosa 7" Throw Themselves On the Machine

Note: This blog posting includes an audio introduction from our podcast on this subject.

       

What do you do when you discover there's a bull market on wall street - for prisons?

What do you do when you find out the parent company of your local bank branch, is investing in private prisons, betting on a growth of inmates in a time of declining crime rates? - And they are supporting new laws designed to bring in fresh inmates and more profit every year - starting with immigrants and climate change refugees?

Once you've connected those dots, you might not want business as usual. You might want to stand up and shout about it. When thousands of people stand up with you, it's a movement.

On January 6, the Occupy Movement in Santa Rosa, California, joined up with immigrants rights advocacy organizations, and called a halt to business as usual, at Wells Fargo Bank.

It was a day when the spirit of Mario Savio -- a campus occupier in 1964 who spoke up and became the fiery orator of the Free Speech movement - once again called for people to throw themselves over the levers of the machine, and bring it to a halt. Activists closed two branch offices that day, with seven among them arrested.

It was not so much a demonstration as a community. Mario Savio wasn't accompanied by a marching brass band, nor did the Free Speech Movement draw people from all walks of life and across four generations. But these are days when people from all walks of life, if thry're willing, see things through new eyes are moved to occupy.

Chicano farm worker organizer Cesar Chavez said that a march is a prayer n motion. And in keeping with the view of spiritual intentions, this march was led by a group of Aztec dancers named Coyolxauqui.

It was a day to tell the world to look and listen, and find out what "business as usual" means when your bank holds stock in private detention centers.

How does a private prison company grow its business when crime rates are declining? 

Advertise on TV, persuading people to commit more crimes, so they can come and enjoy your accommodations? No, what you do is contributing to racist state senators, who pass laws designating new crimes, that target an scapegoated group of outsiders - undocumented immigrants.

Being undocumented wasn't a crime in Georgia, Arizona, or Alabama, until those states were lobbied by private imprisonment firms, such as GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Now anyone who only looks undocumented can be picked up and detained, in private prisons that - by the way - get funded by the same laws.

Round up your scapegoats, fill up the prisons, and watch their Wall Street stock prices go up. Stock owned and managed - by the way - by Wells Fargo. To the tune of $100 million dollars CLICK HERE to see Yahoo Finance Report.

"Corrections" and "incarceration" are user-friendly euphemisms for throwing people into jail. An even better one is "detention." Oh, we're just keeping you late after school, taking a little of your time.

The new community stamps GEO Group and CCA with the real nature of their business: They are imprisonment companies. And their brand of imprisonment has a record of abuse, according to government records obtained by the ACLU and Frontline news program.  

According to government documents obtained by the FRONTLINE news program and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).”immigrants held in U.S. immigration detention facilities filed more than 170 allegations of sexual abuse over the last four years, mostly against guards and other staff at the centers."

We're seeing a new community move forward - one in which everybody is somebody. One that tears away the veils of deception and abuse, putting in their place a localized culture where everyone works together for common intentions.

In this special edition of Shift Shapers we hear a Evelina Molina and Mauricio Velasquez interview Kareem Sanchez and  Bianca Jordan, with background music of the Occupy Santa Rosa band. They also interview Rick Theis and Kim Caldeway. Mario Savio and George Carlin show up in spirit - possibly summoned by the Aztec dancers. In the studio, Daniel Kerbein interviews two people who were arrested that day: Jesse (who only gave his first name), and Tony Del Monte. 

The “Santa Rosa Seven” were arrested, some involved with Occupy Santa Rosa, some involved with the other affinity groups in solidarity that day. Jesse calls it "getting their feet wet." 

We call it throwing your body on the machine. Si Se Puede!

10 Steps that Close and Open Society - End of America (Naomi Wolfe)

10 steps that close an open society

http://www.endofamericamovie.com/host-a-screening

1. invoke an internal and external threat - People who are afraid are willing to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do.

2. establish secret (unaccountable) prisons where torture takes place - In a secret system, the government does not have to provide any proof of wrongdoing by those it holds, so it can incarcerate anyone it wants. 

3. develop a paramilitary force  - A private military force — under the exclusive direction of the “commander in chief” with no accountability to Congress, the courts, or the public — blurs the line between a civilian police force and a militarized police state.

4. surveil ordinary citizens - People who believe they are being watched are less likely to voice opposition.  To scare a population into silence, the government need only monitor the activities of a few to make everyone fear that they are being surveilled.  Every closed society keeps a “list” of so-called opponents it tracks.  

5. infiltrate citizen’s groups - Spies in activist groups put psychological pressure on genuine activists by undermining their trust in one another. They may also disrupt legal activities, undermining the effectiveness of group efforts. 

6. detain and release ordinary citizens -Detention intimidates or psychologically damages those arrested and also lets everyone know that anyone could be labeled an “enemy combatant” and “disappeared.”

7. target key individuals - People are less likely to sp eak out when those who are highly visible, like journalists, scholars, artists, or celebrities, are intimidated or have the livelihoods threatened.  Targeting those who are especially visible makes it less likely that people will speak out and robs society of leaders and others who might inspire opposition. 

8. restrict the press - The public is less likely to fi nd out about government wrongdoing if the government can threaten to prosecute anyone who publishes or broadcasts reports that are critical of the government. 

9. recast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason - People who protest can be charged with terrorism or treason when laws criminalize or limit free speech rather than protect it.

10. subvert the rule of law - The disappearance of checks and balances makes it easier to declare martial law, especially if the judiciary branch continues to exercise authority over individuals but has no authority over the Executive branch.

Facing & Surviving Climate Change with Honest Hope

“It will be a dark time, but for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting.” -James Lovelock 

 

  Lawrence Gonzales’ 12 Rules of Survival Skills

1. Perceive and believe. Don’t fall into the deadly trap of denial or of immobilizing fear. Admit it: You’re really in trouble and you’re going to have to get yourself out. Survivors don’t candy-coat the truth, but they also don’t give in to hopelessness in the face of it.  Survivors see opportunity, even good, in their situation, however grim.

The phases of the survival journey roughly parallel the five stages of death once described by Elizabeth Kubler Ross in her book On Death and Dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  In dire circumstances, a survivor moves through those stages rapidly to acceptance of his situation, then resolves to do something to save himself.  Survival depends on telling yourself, “Okay, I’m here.  This is really happening.  Now I’m going to do the next right thing to get myself out.” Whether you succeed or not ultimately becomes irrelevant.  It is in acting well – even suffering well – that you give meaning to whatever life you have to live.

2. Stay calm – use your anger. In the initial crisis, survivors are not ruled by fear; instead, they make use of it. Their fear often feels like (and turns into) anger, which motivates them and makes them feel sharper. Survivors also manage pain well.

3. Think, analyze and plan. Survivors quickly organize, set up routines, and institute discipline.

4. Take correct, decisive action. Survivors are willing to take risks to save themselves and others.  But they are simultaneously bold and cautious in what they will do.

5. Celebrate your success. Survivors take great joy from even their smallest successes.  This helps keep motivation high and prevents a lethal plunge into hopelessness.  t also provides relief from the unspeakable strain of a life-threatening situation.

6. Be a rescuer, not a victim. Survivors are always doing what they do for someone else, even if that someone is thousands of miles away.

7. Enjoy the survival journey. It may seem counter-intuitive, but even in the worst circumstances, survivors find something to enjoy, some way to play and laugh. Survival can be tedious, and waiting itself is an art.  Survivors use the intellect to stimulate, calm, and entertain the mind.  Singing, playing mind games, reciting poetry, counting anything, and doing mathematical problems in your head can make waiting possible and even pleasant, even while heightening perception and quieting fear. Survivors engage their crisis almost as an athlete engages a sport.  They cling to talismans.  They discover the sense of flow of the expert performer, the “zone” in which emotion and thought balance each other in producing fluid action.  A playful approach to a critical situation also leads to invention, and invention may lead to a new technique, strategy, or design that could save you.

8. See the beauty. Survivors are attuned to the wonder of their world, especially in the face of mortal danger.  The appreciation of beauty, the feeling of awe, opens the senses to the environment. 

9. Believe that you will succeed. It is at this point, following what I call “the vision,” that the survivor’s will to live becomes firmly fixed.  Fear of dying falls away, and a new strength fills them with the power to go on.

10. Surrender. Yes you might die.  In fact, you will die – we all do.  But perhaps it doesn’t have to be today.  Don’t let it worry you.  Forget about rescue.  Everything you need is inside you already.

11. Do whatever is necessary. Survivors have a reason to live and are willing to bet everything on themselves.  They have what psychologists call meta-knowledge:  They know their abilities and do not over– or underestimate them.  They believe that anything is possible and act accordingly.

12. Never give up! Survivors are not easily discouraged by setbacks.  They accept that the environment is constantly changing and know that they must adapt.  When they fall, they pick themselves up and start the entire process over again, breaking it down into manageable bits.  Survivors always have a clear reason for going on.  They keep their spirits up by developing an alternate world, created from rich memories, into which they can escape.  They see opportunity in adversity.  In the aftermath, survivors learn from and are grateful for the experiences that they’ve had.

Those who would survive the hazards of our world, whether at play or in business or at war, through illness or financial calamity, will do so through a journey of transformation.  But that transcendent state doesn’t miraculously appear when it is needed.  It wells up from a lifetime of experiences, attitudes, and practices form one’s personality, a core from which the necessary strength is drawn.  

A survival experience is an incomparable gift: It will tell you who you really are.

These Are The Days...

These are the days when we know it’s true that we are blessed.

These are the days when people become surprised, over and over, at their psychic communications with each other and just plain love for each other.

These are the days when people everywhere, one by one, shed their corporate-pleasing exteriors and start calling things as they see them.

These are the days when people start looking to leave a legacy, some great thing they can do that leaves the world with a powerful example of how much a little charity and justice can accomplish.

These are the days when people begin to know in their guts and hearts, that it’s time to pull off the freeway of the rat race and do something for the other humans on this planet.

These are the days when people all over the world have had enough of rule by “strong men” who in the end are as vulnerable as the rest of us.

These are the days when once and for all, we see the pathetic and cruel things that our nations are doing to others in our names, and we can’t hide from it any more.

These are the days when we poke our heads up out of our self-created gopher holes and notice that something big is coming our way. Something really big.

These are the days when people are learning the skill of talking with plants and listening to animals.

These are the days when the highest and greatest aspirations of us humans can be realized under our feet - maintaining healthy, living soil that grows clean, nourishing vegetables and fruit.

These are the days when people of pure intention experience how powerfully they are able to manifest their dreams, even on a grand scale.

These are the days when even the privileged lift the veils off self-serving visions and start wanting justice for all people.

These are the days when the white middle class gets a taste of what the working classes have been going through for centuries. And like our brown brothers, are told to go away and eat promises – this is a jobless recovery, so move on.

These are the days when we start paying attention to the flurry of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and other disasters that occur by coincidence around eclipses and other planetary alignments.

These are the days when we wake up and realize that our habits, desires and ambitions are being orchestrated by a few tiny dictators running our media.

These are the days when we wake up and see that entire seasons of storms, floods and wildfires are being orchestrated by a planet ready to show us who’s really the boss.

These are also the days when we wake up and see that it isn’t just this planet taking back the show -- the earth has a celestial posse: the sun (due to send out a storm of flares next summer), the moon, and the very center of the galaxy, all moving steadily into alignment.

These are the days when we realize that we are in charge of far more than we think we are, we don’t have much time left and must be bold in our demands – or die with a pathetic whimper.

These are the days when we realize it is within our power to demand poison-free food and energy, that every chemical/GMO  food and fossil energy source is causing our death as a species, and that nothing short of this will be allowed by law. Any lobbyist or politician who obstructs or violates it will be led away in handcuffs.

Speaking of handcuffs, these are the days when we can’t face, but must face, that our culture puts kids and entire families into prison and detention centers, for money and profit.

These are the days when we realize that unpopular things (such as the statement above) have to be said.

These are the days when we can have it all, or lose it all, depending on where we stand spiritually, and where we stand with our neighbors and our communities.

These are the days when every day is this day, every moment is this moment, and we savor that we have so few of them left.

Stop Saving the Planet!

Has anyone out there gotten as sick of the "Save the Planet" meme as I have?

This slogan started out as a people-friendly way to personify environmentalism by portraying the earth as a stray pet needing rescue from the planet shelter. "Please! This poor innocent earth will be euthanized unless you recycle!"

Science tells us the earth has been here 8 billion years, through ice ages and an asteroid collision. We can’t destroy it, so what's the hoopla about saving it?

It's useful as a way to distract us from the real crises we face. When we put our attention into "saving" this rock-solid planet, we unwittingly sidestep massive issues of collusion between government and corporations, then play right into political and media campaigns that distract and isolate us.

Here's a short list of what we have dumped into our own habitat: Nukes, GHGs, carcinogens, GMO crops, oil spills and nanoparticles. Are these ever discussed around the water cooler? If we lift the veil, we might affect this year's bottom line. So, we accept the partnership - make it our job to help keep the veil in place.

If not the planet, then what do we want to save these days? Our way of life? Maybe the habit of living within that way of life, but really - our way of life itself?

Something in our collective soul understands that our "way of life" is based on killing others for their resources and putting them to work for us at starvation wages. That model will never provide a foundation for true prosperity, or for anything else that is lasting or good. Somewhere in our hearts we know this.

It’s coming into our consciousness that we don't really want to save our civilization or our way of life. Our mainstream way of life is only about money, guns, surveillance and shopping. It makes us isolated and unhappy to live that way. This dilemma of consciousness can alternately drive us to chaotic energy (e.g. Egypt, Syria, Greece) or put us into a drowsy and hypnotic state (the U.S.). 

To "save the planet", we just have to do something for it once in a while. A little favor, a bottle into the recycle bin, like we’re throwing a quarter to a beggar.

I have news for you: The planet is no beggar. It's our landlord. 

Planet Earth is our fierce master, a once-peaceful dragon now grown impatient with a people that would poison and defecate in its own nest. It is already coming after us, with a juggernaut of water from the ice caps we melted, along with the cruelest summer heat waves imaginable.

Maybe a signal from our galactic center is getting through: This planet doesn't need to be saved. We need to save ourselves from what we've done to its weather patterns, from what we've done to our own habitat.

We are also seeing that government and corporations have led the way in bringing these consequences, but have no intention to change anything. Corporate power has deafened government's ears. To them it is as though we're in a bad dream, where we open our mouths to shout in protest, and no sound comes out.

We will find our voice when we move into the new form of humanity that we're called to become. As we find ourselves abandoned by our big box consumer world, we can also consider that a release from imprisonment. We are in the unique and exciting position to create what we need for ourselves and each other, off the grid with our families and our neighbors.

Remember that part about our consciousness bringing heightened energy states? We'll need spiritual resilience to ride that, a strength that comes from our spiritual source. For you that may be Christ, the Buddha, the Medicine Wheel, whatever calls to you. To the Maya that source is Hunab Ku, the center of our galaxy. According to shamans, the galactic center communicates its energies to us and will do so increasingly over the coming years.

Of this I'm sure: My spiritual source isn't guiding me to save a planet, but to save my community and my own soul. Our spiritual sources are guiding us to remove our veils and become the new, spiritual humanity. 

Pole Reversal and the Birth of a New Species: Homo Spiritus

In "Beyond 2012-Catastrophe or Awakening?" author Geoff Stray describes a 2012 hypothesis of Jass Rasool, a biophysicist and corporate coach, gave a talk in 2001 at the Mysteries of the World Conference, in Marlborough, UK, in which he pointed out that we are currently experiencing the most active solar cycle on record, and that the eleven-year sunspot cycle has just jumped forward a year, so that the current phase will terminate in 2012. That the Schumann resonance (electromagnetic waves in the cavity between Earth's crust and the ionosphere) is said by some researchers to be rising in frequency, combined with recent discoveries by the Japanese scientist Hiroshi Motoyama that the frequency around psychics increases to a level of seventeen herts, leads a "switching on" of some of the massive amount of genes with officially unknown function (so-called junk DNA), which he calls "species DNA,"leading to mass telepathy and telekinesis. This would be the birth of a new species: HOMO SPIRITUS.

Post-Carbon: Preaching "Transition" to Choir? Try This for Framing

I like the ideas of the Transition movement, and the tireless work of Rob Hopkins, its founder. But I had to comment on Rob's posting of last week. An excerpt of Rob's posting:"Although it is peak oil and climate change that initially inspire Transition initiatives and form the underpinning for much of the initial awareness stage, might it be ...where continued focus on those issues could be counterproductive?

Beyond a certain point it could be that continued highlighting of the issues actually risks dividing and alienating people rather than including them?" He also points out his Transition group's laudable work with town councils and chambers of commerce.

My comment:  Rob, I agree with you about the limited usefulness of peak oil and climate change as framings for the concept of transition.  For an expanded, refreshing -- and I might add urgent -- view of our environmental & economic future, I recommend viewing "Zeitgeist the Movie - Moving Forward" which is posted on this site. The message? Everything that was built on the global, unsustainable model is now in collapse.

Not about to collapse. Headlong into collapse. 

We need to get busy and we need to get things in place now. The premise of Shift Shapers Radio is, "Don't expect the Safeway truck to keep showing up." We have moved from the realm of predictability in obtaining our necessities, into the realm of limited predictability. Our show is bilingual, broadcast into the Latino community, and they get it. The people at the bottom know things are falling apart. Why? Because you feel it immediately when you don't have the safety net.

I suggest framing it the way it really is. We are already in transition, we just haven't for the most part put our local economies and food/fuel/shelter production into place. You don't need a framing once people understand the urgency we face.

I would add that I also appreciate the dilemma of understanding we are in a state of collapse and actually behind the transition 8-ball, when we need to work with city governments and chambers of commerce, who count on things remaining the same and planning only for gradual change, far off into the future.  In these settings, you are far from preaching to the choir. I would contend that you are actually preaching to the resistant, just not in the form of a Tea Party Republican.